Food Fit for Christmas Day

by Deborah English — December 22, 2007

Forget your old devil-may-care-I'll-make-up-for-the-Christmas-gorging-tomorrow attitude. Here is a whole bunch of healthy Christmas meal ideas that will keep you, your family, and friends looking and feeling good the whole day long.

Breakfast/Brunch

• Delicious Bircher muesli topped with organic sliced banana, grated apple, a sprinkle of cinnamon, and warmed soy milk.
• Grill tomatoes chopped in half topped with a little piece of bocconcini, a fresh basil leaf, sprinkled with olive oil and freshly ground black pepper. Eat with multigrain toast. Yum Yum!
• Toast a bagel and top with organic scrambled eggs, a little slice of smoked salmon, and grilled tomatoes.

The Main Meal

• A whole salmon stuffed with lemon slices, dill, almonds; wrapped in foil and baked. Delicious served with a mix of light sour cream and horseradish.
• Roast a turkey but use fruit, polenta, quinoa, or brown rice instead of sausage meat as the stuffing base. (Okay, and eat your turkey without the skin on--but you know this already, right?)

Sides

• Roast sweet potato, pumpkin, red capsicum, and eggplant separate from the meat. Drizzle with maple syrup and balsamic vinegar.
• Grill kebabs of sweet potato, zucchini, mushrooms, red onion, pineapple, and cherry tomatoes.
• Add a traditional French vinaigrette of extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, honey, salt, and pepper to fresh mesculin mix, tomatoes, and thinly sliced red onions. You couldn't get much simpler than this!

The Light Meal in Between

• Gently toss: smoked salmon, thickly sliced hard-boiled eggs, warm potato slices, tomato wedges, and capers into salad leaves. Dress with olive oil, honey, and lemon juice.
• Mix up a Greek salad: cucumber, goats' feta, tomato, torn basil leaves, and Kalamata olives. Drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice.

Dessert

• Fruit--fresh, frozen, or preserved (in natural juice) and oh, go on...have a piece of cake!